"The Visionary" - Marlo Thomas as Ann Marie in That Girl

Years before the arrival of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, the single adult female came of age on television, in a sitcom of Marlo Thomas’s making, That Girl. Ms. Thomas’ creation, Ann Marie, signaled the change in the culture that she not only envisioned, but helped catalyze; a new generation of women searching for independence and career. This story is even more remarkable given the landscape of the time (1965) when she created and sold this program to network television. Her iconic character transcended the medium of television to resonate with a generation of women responsible for changing stereotypes, precepts, and their roles in society.

As part of the series, Iconic Characters, a collaboration between the Comedy Hall of Fame and Museum of the Moving, this special program celebrates and examines the antecedents, the creation, and the legacy of That Girl with the remarkable Marlo Thomas in the discussion program “The Visionary: Ann Marie: TV’s First Independent Woman,” moderated by Gloria Steinem and Debra Messing.

*Photos on this page courtesy of Thanassi Karageorgiou

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